Parashat Bo:"Dusk & Dawn," Sephardic Poetic Reflections from Andalusian Sages

This week, our exploration led to the creation of  'Dusk and Dawn,' a book of reimagined poetry and commentary inspired by Andalusian-era Sephardic poets, reflecting on Parashat Bo's themes of liberation and faith.

Welcome back to MefarshAI, where we blend Torah study with cutting-edge AI to offer a unique artifact each week—an immersive experience that challenges our usual ways of reading and reflecting on the weekly Parasha.

Last week, we explored Parashat Va’era through a reflective workbook inspired by Nechama Leibowitz’s commentaries, showing how AI could handle rich textual analysis and produce practical, spiritually engaging outputs. This week, we pivot to a realm of emotive verse and historical nuance: the poetic world of medieval Sephardic Spain.

Our new collection, “Dusk and Dawn: Andalusian-Era Poetic Reflections into Parashat Bo’s Final Plagues,” presents a series of re-imagined poems inspired by the Sephardic Golden Age that reimagine the final stages of Mitzrayim’s downfall—Arbeh, Choshech, and Makat Bechorot—through the lens of Andalusian Hebrew poets like Yehuda HaLevi, Moses ibn Ezra, and their lesser-known contemporaries. Rather than simply retell the story, these poems weave references to exile, divine justice, and human frailty into the melodic contours of Arabic-influenced Hebrew. Each plague becomes a focal point for exploring themes of despair, longing, and ultimate hope in Hashem’s unfolding plan.

Just as last week’s project guided us through a week of journaling, this week we have been playing with brand-new AI products and tools with their swift ability to research biographies, stylistic features, and historical contexts - making them great for this exploration of the Sephardic Golden Age of poetry. We guided the AI with carefully structured prompts, refining each poem and commentary through several iterations. The goal was to evoke the poetic spirit of medieval Spain—where biblical text, Arabic meter, and profound theological reflection coexisted—while remaining faithful to the drama of Parashat Bo.

In these pages, you’ll find poems for each of the final plagues, Hebrew and English side by side, along with succinct introductions and line-by-line commentary essays that highlight historical tidbits, linguistic nuance, and spiritual underpinnings. We also included personal reflections on how each Rabbi Poet might have responded to a biblical catastrophe, such as locusts darkening the sky, a midnight hush of death, or the profound stillness of Choshech. Together, they reinforce our belief that Torah study can be illuminated in new ways when we draw from the vast tapestry of Jewish history and the creative possibilities of technology.

We invite you to download and read “Dusk and Dawn: Andalusian-Era Poetic Reflections into Parashat Bo’s Final Plagues,” allowing the solemn hush of night and the promise of dawn to speak to your own search for meaning. Whether you connect with the austere hush of Choshech or the raw devastation of Arbeh, may these verses inspire you to consider how, across time and place, the Jewish heart has consistently reached toward Hashem’s guiding light—whether in the soaring courts of Al-Andalus or in our modern, digitally interconnected world.

Thank you for journeying with us as we write MefarshAI, exploring the intersection of Torah through fresh and innovative mediums. This project underscores our commitment to upholding tradition while harnessing new tools that bring ancient wisdom to life. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections, and we hope you find in these poems a stirring blend of grandeur, devotion, and the timeless call to draw nearer to the Source of all dawns.

—Dave Weinberg

with Nate Fein & Zevi Reinetz

MefarshAI, January 2025